Freedomland is a 1998 mystery novel by Richard Price. Plot introduction A woman staggers into a local hospital, too dazed to speak. As the doctors and police try to puzzle out her injuries, her story comes out. She was thrown to the ground and her car was stolen. And, in the back, was her four-year-old son. The town of Dempsey is in turmoil as the search for the child goes on and pressure builds up on all sides. Explanation of the novel's title An abandoned theme park, Freedomtown, is the site of a massive search and discovery, both for characters within the novel and relating to the crime. The secondary meaning refers to the freedoms that the citizens have that are restricted and reduced in special circumstances. Setting Dempsey – A fictional city that is predominantly African- American and poor. Gannon – A fictional middle-class city bordering Dempsey. Armstrong Housing Projects – A set of buildings in Dempsey in which the bulk of the novel takes place. Freedomtown is based loosely on the theme park Freedomland U.S.A. Plot summary Brenda Martin walks into the hospital emergency room in a state of shock. As doctors bandage her hands, they find out she is the victim of a carjacking near Armstrong. Detective Lorenzo Council meets with her, and through her tears gets the story that her four-year-old son Cody was in the backseat of the car. She then describes the assailant as being a young black man with a shaved head and scary eyes. Local reporter Jesse Haus follows up on this relatively minor news story, and is one of the first to learn about the kidnapping. After promising to write a story on Bump Rosen's son, she gets an inside chance to be next to Brenda. As the Gannon and Dempsey police blockade the crime area, Lorenzo works to get more details from Brenda, and Jesse works on details for her story. Lorenzo has Jesse stay with Brenda so she is not alone, and Jesse discovers Brenda's love of classic R&B music. Lorenzo, under a deadline to solve the case or lose it to the FBI, starts asking all of his contacts for any information. False or no information is the result, and the residents of Armstrong are beginning to express outrage at the blockade. George Howard is arrested in hopes of getting information from him, but his unfair arrest only